Elevator



June 30, 1970 R. E. MEYER 3,517,775

ELEVATOR Filed Jan. 17, 1968 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. E0? 5. MEVEZ I. BY

WMMK

R. E. MEYER June 30, 1970 ELEVATOR 4 SheetsSheet 2 Filed Jan. 17, 1968 INVENTOR.

505 E. as 5e ATTOZ/VEVS June 30, 1970 R. E. MEYER 3,517,775

ELEVATOR Filed Jan. 17, 1968 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 5 INVENTOR.

R. E. MEYER June 30, 1970 ELEVATOR 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Jan. 17, 1968 FIG. IO

INVENTOR.

805 5. MEVEQ United States Patent 3,517,775 ELEVATOR Roy E. Meyer, 1124 Oak St., Red Wing, Minn.

Filed Jan. 17, 1968, Ser. No. 698,549 Int. Cl. B66b 7/04 US. Cl. 187-12 12 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE BRIEF SUMMARY OF INVENTION This invention is to accommodate elevator installation in structures where it is not possible or practical to make an elevator shaft which is prefectly straight from end to end. For instance, in a hydroelectric power station, the darn may have a height of several hundred feet, possibly 600 feet or more, and it is necessary to provide for travel from the top of the dam to the bottom of the dam, but it is not always possible to design the shaft in the dam to be linear or straight up and down.

The present invention provides for the installation of an elevator in a shaft which has one or more bends therein and wherein the track along which the elevator follows, has a bend corresponding to the bend in the shaft. The present invention provides a carriage to move with the elevator car downwardly to the bend in the shaft, whereupon the carriage is detached from the elevator car and secured to the track in the shaft and sheaves on the carriage serve to guide the car supporting cables around the bend in the shaft and direct the cables linearly from the bend downwardly to the car. It should be understood that more than one bend in the elevator shaft may be accommodated by providing more than one releasable carriage on the elevator car.

The present invention also contemplates tilting the floor in the elevator car at the bend in the shaft and in the track so that persons in the elevator car may continue to stand on a horizontal floor regardless of the direction of the elevator shaft. A braking mechanism locks to the rails of the track immediately adjacent the wheels of the elevator car so that the rail gripping clamps of the brake maintain a proper relationship to the rail, even while the bend in the track is being negotiated. If either of the dual car supporting cables has a slack or ruptures, the car will be locked in rigid relation to the track to immobilize the car until the cable situation has been corrected.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING FIG. 1 is a section view taken on a vertical plane through a generally upright, but bent shaft which is to accommodate an elevator, with substantial portions of the length of the shaft being broken away in order to emphasize important details, and certain of the apparatus shown in dotted lines in its various positions.

FIG. 2 is a side elevation view of the elevator car and cable support and track mechanism at the top of the shaft.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged detail top plan view of one of the clusters of mounting and guide wheels.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged side elevation view of the deice tachable cable guiding carriage, and illlustrated separated from the car.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged detail elevation view of the carriage as viewed from the left side of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a greatly enlarged detail section view taken approximately at 6-6 in FIG. 4.

FIG. 7 is a top plan view of the elevator car with the removable carriage detached.

FIG. 8 is a detail elevation view of the rear upper portion of the elevator car.

FIG. 9 is an enlarged detail elevation view of the front upper portion of the car and the rail gripping brake mechanism.

FIG. 10 is an enlarged detail section view taken approximately at 10-10 in FIG. 9 and eliminating background mechanism for clarity of detail.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION One form of the invention is shown in the drawings and is described herein. The structure 10 has a shaft 11 downwardly therethrough which may be multi-purpose shaft with numerous power conducting cables (not shown) at one side of the shaft and the elevator structure, indicated in general by numeral 12 at the opposite side of the shaft. The structure 10 may be a dam having a height of almost 600 feet, and the elevator shaft 11 will have a corresponding length or depth.

The shaft 11 has a bend in it at approximately 11a, such that the upper portion 11b of the shaft which is oriented substantially vertically, will be at an oblique angle with respect to the lower portion 1-1c of the shaft which is at an angle of approximately 15 degrees with the vertical.

A track structure, indicated in general by numeral 13 is afiixed in the shaft 11 and the track structure includes a pair of rigid rails 14 and 15 extending in spaced parallel relation with each other throughout the entire length of the shaft 11 and at one side thereof. As seen in FIG. 3, the rails 14 and 15 are of a rectangular tubular construction and are mounted on bracket plates 16 which are affixed to rigid supporting structure 17 which is embedded in the structure 10 at the side of the shaft 11. The rails 14 and 15 are related to each other with a substantial degree of precision so that they will accurately guide the elevator car 18 which travels therealong. The elevator car 18 has a rigid framework 19 and a hinged door 20 providing access into the interior of the car, and peripheral screening which substantially encloses the sides and top of the car. The car 18 also has a tiltable floor 22 which is hinged at 23 to the framework 19 of the car so as to be tiltable between the full line position and the dotted line position P shown in FIG. 2. The outer edge of the floor 22 is supported by operating rods 24 which extend upwardly and connect to operating screws 25 confined in the tubular housings 26 at the top of the car. Each of the housings encloses a rotary nut 27 driven by suitable gearing from an electric motor 28. The motor 28 is controlled by an operating switch 29 which is closed when the feeler thereof engages the stationary cam 30 mounted at the side of the track .14 adjacent the bend B in each of the tracks 14 and 15. Suitable limit switches are provided for stopping the movement of the floor 22 at the desired limits of its swinging. As seen, the floor 22 is in horizontal position along the upright portion 11b of the shaft, and when the elevator car moves downwardly past the bend B in the tracks, the floor is tilted downwardly so as to remain in substantially horizontal position for the comfort and convenience and safety of the persons riding in the car.

The car 18 is guided along the rails 14 and 15 by upper and lower clusters 31 and 32 of wheels respectively disposed adjacent the top and bottom of the car. The clusters 31 and 32 of guide wheels are all substantially identical and are illustrated in FIG. 3. Each of these clusters has a frame 33 which is provided with a pair of mounting cars 34 for pivotal mounting on a shaft 35 supported by mounting ears 19a which are rigid with and an integral part of the frame 19 of the car. Each of the frames or brackets 33 is capable of swinging to a limited degree about a horizontal axis relative to the car 18.

The cluster 31 includes upper and lower tiers of grooved wheels 36 and 37 which are identical to each other, and are oriented on stationary axes so as to engage and nest with the angular corners of the rails 14 and 15.

Because of the pivotal mountings provided by shaft 35 of the clusters 31 and 32 of guide wheels, the car 18 may pass along the bend B in the tracks 14 and 15 without binding and while continuing to be adequately supported and guided by the rails.

The elevator car 18 has a suitable control panel 38 therein which is connected to a power cable 39 extending upwardly from the car. The operator of the elevator may thereby control the upward and downward movement of the elevator and may communicate with persons at the top or bottom of the shaft, and the power cable 39 also supplies operating power for the motor 28 and the other lights and interlocks of various sorts for the operating mechanism of the elevator.

Extending upwardly parallel to the control and power cable 39, are a pair of car support cables 40 and 41. The car support cables 40 and 41 extend upwardly through the shaft 11 and over a pair of sheaves 42 and 43 and to a winching mechanism 44 operated by an electric motor 45 with a built-in braking mechanism and reversing control. Through the operation of a motor 45, the elevator car 18 is moved upwardly and downwardly in the shaft 11. The power cable 39 passes upwardly and over a guide sheave 46 and downwardly to a cable drum 47 operated by a suitable motor operated control mechanism 48 to keep the power cable 39 relatively tight in the shaft 11 without taking any substantial strain in regard to the support of the car. As the car moves upwardly and downwardly, the power cable 39 is correspondingly reeled in or payed out from the drum 47.

In FIG. 9 is illustrated the attachment of the cables 40 and 41 to the car 18, and the rail clamping brake mechanism to immobilize the car in the event that one of the cables is broken. In FIG. 9, the condition is illustrated wherein the cable 41 has ruptured so that operation of the apparatus may be understood.

A mounting plate 49 is aflixed to the frame 19 of the car, and in upstanding ears 50, a pivot pin 51 is secured for mounting a pair of cantilever arms 52 and 53 for limited rocking pivotal movement about the horizontal axis of the pivot pin 51. The horizontally extending cantilever arms extend in opposite directions from the pivot pin 51 toward the respective rails 14 and 15. A pair of elongate rail clamping brake dogs 54 are mounted adjacent each of the rails 14 and 15, and on shafts 55 which are journaled in suitable bearings in upright rigid mounting plates 56, also aflixed to the frame 19 of the car. The outer ends of the cantilever arms 52 and 53 are pivoted to links 57 so as to swing the operating arms 58 of the brake dogs '54 and thereby cause the brake dogs 54 to lock against the rails v14 and 15 when the end of the corresponding cantilever arm is moved downwardly. The cantilever arms 52 and 53 are urged downwardly continuously by springs 59, and are urged upwardly by the action of the cables 40 and 41 pulling upwardly against the weight of the car which is supported from the pin 51. Upward movement of the cantilever arms 52 is restrained by stops or brackets 49a which are rigid with the base plate 49.

In FIG. 9, the cable 41 is assumed to have ruptured, and it will be seen that the the cantilever arm 52 has been urged and moved downwardly by the spring 59' and the brake dogs 54 have been swung inwardly by action of the spring 59 into a clamping and braking relationship with respect to the rail 15, thereby immobilizing the car 18 until the cable 41 is repaired and the cantilever arm 52 is again swung upwardly to its normal position.

In order to adequately guide the car support cables 40 and 41, and the power cable 39, as the car moves in the lower reaches of the shaft 11 and below the bend B in the track 13, a removable or detachable cable guiding carriage, indicated in general by numeral 60 is releasably attached to the top of the car and is independently slidably mounted on the rails 14 and 15 by a pair of mounting sleeves 61. The carriage 60 has a frame structure 62 affixed to the mounting sleeves 61, and a pair of sheaves 63 and 64 are journaled on the frame of the carriage and adjacent the car supporting cables 40 and 41 to continuously engage and guide these support cables. An additional sheave 65 is journaled on the frame 62 of the carriage to guide the power cable 39.

The tracks 14 and 15 have rigid stops 14a afiixed thereto adjacent the bend B in the track for engaging the lower ends of the sleeves 61 and preventing further downward movement of the carriage in the shaft 11. The carriage 60 is normally latched to the car 18 by a hook 66 which is spring pressed against a stop bar 67 welded on the carriage frame. The hook 66 is moved away from the stop 67 by a cam 14b so as to release the carriage from the car as the carriage engages the stops 14a.

The carriage 60 is also provided with locking mechanism preventing any upward movement of the carriage along the track after the car 18 moves downwardly away from the carriage. The locking mechanism comprises a locking bar 68 swingably mounted on a bracket 69 rigid with the carriage frame 62 and swinga'ble into a slot in the track 14. The locking bar 68 is retained in the slot 140 by a link 70 at a crossbar 71 pivoted to the carriage frame at 72 and continuously urged downwardly by the spring 73. A feeler 74 afiixed to the crossbar 71 will engage the top 19b of the car when the car moves upwardly against the carriage to lift the cross-bar 71 and swing the lock bar 68 out of the track, to thereby permit the carriage 60 to move upwardly again. A similar lock bar! and operating linkage is provided adjacent the rail 15 which also has a locking slot similar to 140 formed therein. In operation, it will therefore be understood that as the person in the elevator car moves the car downwardly in the shaft 11, the cables 40, 41 and 39 are payed out and the car 18 and carriage 60 move downwardly toward the bend B. When the car 18 reaches the bend B in the track, several things occur nearly simultaneously. The operating switch 29 engages the operating cam 30 so as to operate motor 28 and tilt the floor 22 to the dotted position P. The car is unlatched from the carriage 60 which engages the stops 14a on the track and the car 18 pulls downwardly away from the carriage, whereupon the bar 68 swings into the slot in the track and prevents any upward movement of the carriage 60. As the car 18 travels downwardly beyond the bend B in the track 13, the cables 39, 40 and 41 are guided around the bend by the sheaves 65, 63 and 64, respectively, so that the cables are maintained in approximately the same relationship to the track as in the upper portion of the shaft.

As previously described, in the event that either of the cables becomes slightly slack or ruptures, the car will be immobilized by the brake dogs 54 locking against one of the rails 14 or 15. It will be noted that the brake dogs 54 are disposed immediately adjacent and above the upper cluster 31 of guide wheels and the relationship of the brake dogs to the rails is continuously maintained.

Of course, it will be understood that various changes may be made in the form, details, arrangement and proportions of the various parts without departing from the scope of my invention.

What I claim is:

1. An elevator adapted to travel a generally upright course with a bend therein,

comprising a track extending continuously along the course and having a bend corresponding to the bend in the course, the track being substantially upright at locations above and below the bend,

a car to move along the course, the car having wheels in continuous engagement with the track to be guided therealong, a support cable suspending the car on the track,

cable supporting and operating means lifting and lowering the cable and car,

a detachable carriage demountably carried on the car and having a cable guiding sheave,

and means detaching the carriage from the car and supporting the carriage independently of the car adjacent the bend in the track to locate the sheave for guiding the cable downwardly from the bend to the car.

2. The elevator according to claim 1 wherein the car has a tilta'ble floor, and means tilting the floor to maintain the floor substantially horizontal regardless of the direction of the track means.

3. The elevator according to claim 2 and including upright screws attached to the floor in the car and moving one side of the floor upwardly and downwardly.

4. The elevator according to claim 1 wherein the wheels are arranged in a pair of wheel clusters respectively adjacent the top and bottom of the car and engaging and bearing against the track in multiple directions for moving therealong, one of the wheel clusters having pivotal connection to the car for rocking about an axis transverse to said track means.

5. The elevator according to claim 4 wherein said tiltable cluster of wheels has an upper tier and a lower tier of wheels on axes rigid with respect to each other.

'6. The elevator according to claim 1 wherein the carriage has follower means independent of the car and slidably engaging the track and maintaining the carriage in predetermined orientation with respect to the track and car.

7. The elevator according to claim 6 wherein said follower means include a pair of split sleeves sliding along the track in close fitting relation and maintaining the carriage and the track in predetermined orientation with respect to each other.

8. The elevator according to claim 1 and said lastmentioned means including a cam on the track adjacent the bend, sensing means engaging the cam and efi'ecting unlatching of the carriage from the car and locking of the carriage to the track.

9. The elevator according to claim 1 and including a stop on the track to engage and support the carriage against downward movement adjacent the bend, and also including a car-engaging feeler on the carriage and eifecting locking of the carriage against upward movement in response to movement of the car downwardly away from the carriage.

10. An elevator comprising a car,

a support cable for suspending the car,

cable supporting and operating means lifting and lowering the cable and car,

track means guiding the car and including a rigid rail along which the car travels,

a pair of clamps rotatable on the car to trip the rail,

an elongate horizontal cantilever arm With an inner end connected to the car and an outer end connected with a linkage to said clamps for operating the clamps, the inner end of the cantilever arm being connected to said cable and supporting the car,

and spring means bearing against the arm to prevent deflection of the outer end of the arm under the weight of the car suspended from the cable, and said spring means also moving the arm against slack or rupture of the cable to operate the clamps and grip the rail to immobilize the car.

11. The elevator according to claim 10 and including a second pair of rail gripping clamps on the car, a second cantilever arm and linkage to said second pair of clamps for operating the same, and a second car supporting cable and spring means to oppositely deflect the arm for ordinarily maintaining said clamps inoperative, and causing the clamps to grip the rail in response to a rupture of 01 slack in the cable.

12. The elevator according to claim 10 wherein said track means has a bend therein to elfect a change in direction of the course of the car as it travels upwardly and downwardly, the car having upper and lower clusters of wheels respectively adjacent the top and bottom of the car for following the track, and said clamps being disposed closely adjacent one of said clusters of wheels to maintain a proper closely spaced relation with the rail.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,786,734 12/ 1930 Bledsoe 18795 1,808,954 6/ 1931 Hallenbeck l8795 3,136,434 6/1964 Mauderer 214-100 3,252,547 5/ 1966 Hornedo 18795 3,329,240 7/ 1967 'Harwood 18795 3,333,658 8/1967 OLeary 187-96 FOREIGN PATENTS 199,392 11/ 1965 Sweden.

US. Cl. XJR. 187-27, 87, 

